Uncle Scrooge: The Pauper’s Glass
Storycode: D92206 · Pages: 22
Script: William Van Horn · Art: William Van Horn
U.S. publications: US 298
Characters: Donald Duck, Huey Duck, Dewey Duck, Louie Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell
Six months ago Scrooge has disappeared. Ever since his nephew Donald is in charge of business, the money-bin level is going down rapidly. To complicate matters further, a mysterious stranger is buying up vast parts of the McDuck empire. As it turns out, the stranger is no one else but Scrooge who had lost his memory after looking into a mirror known as the Pauper’s Glass. After a wild chase around the world, Donald and his nephews manage to track down their uncle and reverse the charm.
On the third page Scrooge is hijacked by a swarm of moths. The seven mosquitoes and four funny birds are well hidden.
The script for this story was restructured three times. First Bill made a plot outline for Ducktales, featuring Launchpad. When the license went from Gladstone to Disney, Van Horn wrote a script based on his outline, with Donald replacing Launchpad. The story now had 26 pages in multi-tiered format. Before Bill could draw the story, Disney stopped comic production. For Egmont Bill had to change the story into the familiar four-tiered format. With the help of scissors and tape, the 26 pages now became a 19-page story. But that was not the end of it. Egmont stories with more than 15 pages in length had to be broken into two or three parts. Each part now had to start with a half-page splash panel. Bill used scissors and tape again to give the story its final shape with 22 pages.
Bill also made a cover for this story (US 298).